Arianna's Leap From Invisibility
by Arora-and-Amira
Summary: Arianna was your basic girl in Gryffindor, except for: she is a half vampire, a self-proclaimed coward, and terrified of men. Now for some strange reason the Weasley twins have become interested in her and decided to make her the Prank Queen of Hogwarts.
1. Family Background Philosiphical Sayings

Amber's Boredom

Prologue: Concerning Vampires and Half-vampires

_Life isn't always as easy as people like you to believe._ This was a fact she had learned very early in life, actually she was only ten when she first started to realize how sheltered she had been her whole life.

Arianna's parents had taken her to Romania with them to visit an old friend from their school days. His name was Zolf; he was a civilized vampire and a first rate wizard, which didn't really scare her all that much at the time as her parents were pure blood wizards, blood traitors, who had taught Arianna equal rights for all from the first day that she started to walk. The fact that she also had a godfather who was also a vampire probably had something to do with that as well.

Anyway, they had been there for a few days when her mother and father had gone out for one of their notorious shopping trips that would usually end up with them both laden down with her mother's rather extravagant purchases, when Zolf finally had a horrible relapse.

You see, after they reach maturity, vampires are not able to go without a certain 'something' without having a few repercussions; two of which happen to be increased bloodlust, and decreased strength. Zolf had been going without said 'something' for the last couple of weeks, which was definitely not a good idea; especially with a young child like Arianna around.

It was even worse when you added in the fact that Zolf had been keeping a secret from Alana and Leo (her parents), his True Self had decided to make its presence known. Though many people don't know about the existence of vamps True Self, it is in its essence, which a person would be if they didn't have any inhibitions, or any regard for consequences that could result from its actions.

A True Self usually only has one goal, and when its goal is completed, they return to the vampire's subconscious; except for in the occurrence that a vampire has gone mad from what its True Self has done. Zolf's True Self had decided that all it wanted was to make a new vampire to be his mate for all eternity.

It also seemed that Zolf's master had come to the conclusion that Arianna would be beautiful when she was older, and that if he made her a half-vampire now he would be able to spend all the time he needed creating her affections toward him before he decided she was at her prime, and changed her for good.

Which made it a very, very bad idea indeed to leave little, defenseless, Arianna with him on that fateful night. It was the day Zolf's control finally snapped, and the True Zolf took over. Within moments after her parents left the ten year old was held up against the wall as he dug his razor sharp fangs into her throat, and he let his thirst be satisfied.

Arianna would have nightmares for years about that night. The look on her mother's face as she stood in the doorway, having come back for something, and realized what was happening before her very eyes. The red light that had glowed as a stunning spell hit Zolf in the back, and sent him spinning away from her. The way she had screamed as he had shot up from the ground, where moments before he had lain, as still as the dead. The blood that had splashed from Alana's injured shoulder as he sent her flying into the wall, and the last words her mother had said to her, "Ari, run, run now!"

She would always see what had happened next in her nightmares as well. She had tried to run, and had only gotten as far as the door, before he caught her again and started to bring her closer to him. Then at that moment her father threw open the door, having heard the noises from outside the house, probably fearing an attack from Deatheaters, not his best friend. His wand was barely pointed at Zolf when he too, was killed by one lethal blow from the creature that he had used to know. Then Zolf did exactly what he had wanted to when he had first bit her, he drained her until she was at the brink of death and forced her to drink the blood that bubbled up when he had bit into his own wrist.

This would usually be when she would wake up from her nighttime terrors, with the knowledge of what had happened next burned into her mind. She had been forced to stay with him, with her parents' bodies, in that house for a whole day before they were discovered and she was saved.

Her godfather, Asreal had been coming to visit them and it was he that had found them. He flew into a rage at the sight of her parents, and at the young girl crying in the corner. In his rage he turned to Zolf, and without using his wand, killed him. Later on the killing was listed as self-defense, and he was given custody of Arianna. Of course Asreal was no fool, and he recognized the danger they both were still in.

When a vampire dies in its true form, it is possible for him, or her, to bind a part of its soul to two different people. One of those people was the person who killed him, and the other was the last person that he has bitten. So in this case, Arianna and Asreal were both at risk of him taking over a part of their soul. Consequently, if they were both together when this happens, it would be easy for him to start over where he had left off, and live his life through Asreal, with Arianna at his control and mercy.

Asreal understood this and he took all of the necessary precautions. Arianna was sent to live with her Grandmother, who was a muggle. This meant that, while she knew about wizards and witches, she did not know how to deal with a little girl who was now a half vampire. Admittedly, Asreal completely forgot that his little goddaughter was no longer completely human. Luckily for Arianna, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, did know how to take care of nonhumans.

This was lucky indeed, because half-vamps needed to consume either blood or a powerful and magical blood substitute at least once a week after they reach the age of thirteen. Otherwise the vampire could start to starve to death. They would slowly become nothing but ghosts of their former selves; with only their True Self keeping them alive.

Seven years later, when she started to mature as a young vampire this was where she was. She had been sorted into Gryffindor, breaking the tradition of her father's family, who had all been in Slytherin. Unfortunately, she was rather meek for someone in the bravest house which had kept her basically invisible, except to her closest friends.

This is where her story begins, the year after the final battle with Voldemort and the Ministry had made a law that forced every student from Hogwarts that had dropped out in their final years at school to return, which included the Weasely twins, the Golden Trio, and everyone else including her.

~~~~~~~True-Self~~~~~~~~

I realize that this idea is only half way hatched out and that I really don't have a plot in mind yet but I really would appreciate it if you all would give me some feedback on whether I should continue this story or not. Also I feel that everyone should know I actually enjoy flames, so if you're going to flame me feel free; but do me a favor and be specific about it. Don't just say "Your story sucks and you are a horrible writer." That said its 4 in the morning and I'm super tired so I'll be saying good bye for now. R & R.

~Love-Truth-Self~ Amira Otanashi out.


	2. Stupind Mindistry Romantic Vampires

Amber's Boredom

Chapter One: The Equal Education and Opportunities Law

~~~~~~~True-Self~~~~~~~~

"Arianna, the mail has arrived, could you go and get it for me please?" The young girl walked calmly from the kitchen into the hallway. This was an ordinary occurrence for her, as her elderly great-grandmother walked with a cane and had some difficulty getting up once she had sat down.

As she approached the pile of mail in front of the door, Arianna noticed that on the top of the pile was an envelope with a wax seal on it. "Is it already time for my letter? It seems to be early," she thought. It was, in fact, two days before the Hogwarts letters would be sent out to students.

While she was bringing the letters back to her grandma, she further examined the letter on top. Instead of the Hogwarts coat of arms, in the letter were two large capital 'M's in gothic print with a small 'O' squished between the two. Arianna's brow furrowed, she recognized the Ministry of Magic's insignia, but what could they possibly want with her or her grandmother for that matter? She turned it over and it was, unfortunately, addressed to her.

"Ari-dear, are you going to give me the letters or not?" Once her grandmother's somewhat sarcastic voice broke through the fog that had appeared in her mind as she realized she had stopped moving.

"I'm sorry, Grams, I got lost in thought." She handed her guardian the rest of the pile and sat down across from her on a navy blue loveseat to read the letter.

~~~~~~~True-Self~~~~~~~~

When Arianna finished the letter, or announcement, she was shocked to find that the Ministry of Magic was defiantly made up of idiots. They were passing a law that would force all the students who left Hogwarts prematurely due to the war or its effects, to return and complete their final year; if anyone refused the Ministry would forcibly make them participate in a marriage law that applied to all wizards and witches who were of age and not engaged or married. That meant that anyone who dropped out in the past 5 years would be coerced into finishing school. It didn't bother her too much as she had going to her 7th year anyway. Now she would just be attending with a class that had at least doubled.

This was going to end badly, she could already tell, it was a side-effect of being part vampire. She was sort of intuitive, which had come in handy. At least it had so far, nobody had found out when she and Lena, her best friend, snuck out after hours to set up a prank that people would inevitably blame on someone else, or to sneak into the Forbidden Forest to see centaurs or thestrals. Of course as they had never left enough evidence for anyone who was blamed to get detention, neither girl felt too badly about it. As it was the two girls had taken to relying on Arianna's power for good luck on the littlest things. For instance, every year after first year the two girls had taken to betting on the outcomes of Quidditch matches, and making a sizable sum. It was one of the few things that Arianna didn't mind about being a half-breed. Another was her heightened senses; despite what you might think, it was indeed a good thing for such a cowardly girl to have unusual strength, hearing, and smell. Most of these were used for running away; but still, they were needed.

Just thinking about the coming year was enough to make shivers run up and down her spine. She knew from past experiences that this could either mean one of two things. One: something unexpected could happen to her or two: something completely unwanted could happen to her; but either way it was something her True-Self wanted. If it wasn't something that her True-Self wanted, she would get an instant feeling of foreboding, and if it could cause her possible injury she would become nauseas on the spot.

With a sigh Arianna recognized that there wasn't anything she could do about her premonition this time. Either she completed her schooling, or she was married off to someone she didn't even know. She knew which one she would never do of her own free will. So that left returning to an overflowing school. An overflowing school full of people, most of whom she had never spoken two words to. Still, in the words of Great-grandma Marisol, "It can always get worse, so be grateful."

~~~~~~~True-Self~~~~~~~~

A few weeks later Arianna said a tearful goodbye to her grandmother, and then walked through the phantom barrier onto Platform 9 ¾. The sounds and smells of the train station assaulted her senses, and a smile slipped easily onto her face. She would soon be seeing her best friend again; a few letters passed back and forth really wasn't enough contact with Lena for her to be satisfied. Now she got to spend a whole year with the only person who knew her better than she knew herself.

As the young girl walked calmly through the crowded station she received a few odd looks. This summer her True-Self's nature had started to show through in her looks, which accounted for her now raven-black hair that was so dark it seemed almost purple, and her piercing silver eyes, not to mention her pale skin.

(AN: Yes, I did say _silver,_ when the summer started her eyes were gray and her hair was dark brown. But her paleness will be normal for her.)

The teen was continuing to weave her way through the groups of families there to see their relatives off. One such occurrence which was extremely noticeable was a large crowd of red headed teenagers gathered around two older gingers. Arianna knew that they were the Weasely family and that at least four of her children would be attending that year, as none of them would want to go along with the marriage law.

Ordinarily this probably wouldn't have bothered her if she hadn't realized that the twins, Fred and George, would be coming back to school that year as well, which was certainly going to cause her problems. While the twins had been in school before, she and Lena had somehow gotten into an anonymous prank war with them. They had found a note one night at the scene of a prank they had played previously that said the two best prankster groups should know which was the best, shouldn't they, and Lena had convinced her it was a matter of pride to win

Unfortunately, it hadn't taken all that much time to convince the girl. The excuse "We have to prove that just because were girls doesn't mean we can't do just as well as them," was used very often. Needless to say the twins that while the twins had never gotten close to finding out whom they were, (Thank goodness for her sixth sense!), it still made her slightly nervous. Though, she had to admit it had been marvelous to see their frustrated faces after some of the girl's best pranks. One of said pranks included turning the Slytherin common room and banner hot pink with dark purple polka-dots.

Just as she managed to maneuver her way around a very loud mother crying over her son's first year at Hogwarts, she heard someone call out her name, and looked wildly around for the source of the sound.

"Ari-dear, it's so good to see you again! I've missed you so much." The speaker was a short, tan girl with pixie-cut hair that had been dyed a multitude of colors, most of which seemed to be neon pink, purple, and blue. Her dark green eyes were shining with obvious happiness as she ran toward her best friend.

"Lena! Oh, I've missed you too, come here. What did you do to your hair? It looks amazing." Arianna pulled her friend into a hug.

Both girls finally ended the embrace and started to drag their trunks to the train as they caught up on what had happened since they had last seen each other. Apparently, since their week-long visit at the beginning of the holiday, Lena had got together with and broken up with three boys all while vacationing in America, and Ari had found a secluded spot to start teaching herself how to fly with the broomstick she had secretly bought, as her grandmother was terribly afraid of her hurting herself.

"Well, Ari-dear it looks like you have started coming out of that shell of yours over the summer, maybe by Christmas you'll actually have a boyfriend. I'll settle for you talking to someone you don't know about something other than homework or classwork." Lena was only partway teasing.

While she could talk to people she wasn't well acquainted with it did take a good bit of work from her and she usually never talked about anything very important with them. Well, except for when she was angry, but that was a different matter entirely, as in such times her vocabulary usually reverted to mostly swear words and insults, not to mention a few highly inappropriate suggestions.

Arianna just laughed at her friends suggestion and replied with a "Who knows." This was not something she said very often; and caused Lena to look more closely at her friend.

"Ari-dear, there is something different about you I can tell, so fess up now what is it?" Lena was very perceptive and sometimes Ari wondered if _she _wasn't the intuitive one.

"How about I'll tell you once we get somewhere we won't be disturbed." This was Arianna's way of telling her friend it was a dire secret. When Lena realized that she also recognized that there was only one thing it could be, and that thing was either very dangerous or just what Ari needed to become a better person all around.

The girls quickly made their way to an empty compartment, almost running over Trevor the toad in the process. Once the door was closed Lena attacked her best friend since first year with a volley of questions.

"What's going on? Is it your True-Self? Is she causing you trouble? Do these pants make my butt look big?" Sometimes Lena could be just a little random.

"In order: I've found out what she wants. Yes. Not really. And no those pants do not make your butt look any larger than it really is." Arianna's reply was just a bit sarcastic. Of course this wasn't really all that unusual; Ari's primary form of communication was sarcasm.

"What does she want then? Come on you got to tell me; we've been trying to figure this out since we were thirteen years old. And are you saying my buttocks is unusually large? " Lena was telling the truth; they had been working to discover what Ari's true-self wanted ever since they decided that it would be easier than just denying it to her.

"She wants us to fall in love. You know the whole Prince Charming, fireworks when you kiss, doing it like bunnies thing? Yeah she wants that whole shebang. Lucky me, huh? The one of the most antisocial girls in Hogwarts has to fall in love. "

Further opportunity for any speech on the subject was immediately put to an abrupt stop as the door to their compartment flew open only for two very tall male figures to enter.

~~~~~~~True-Self~~~~~~~~

I realize that this chapter was just a little random, and I apologize, but this is what happens when I get bored. Also for anyone who noticed I realized I mentioned that Arianna was a pureblood in the first chapter, which didn't really make sense as her Grandma is a muggle. So, because of that little slip up the grandma is now the great- grandma and Ari's grandmother is a muggle born. Just to clear up any confusion. Also I would really like some advice on the couplings. Should I keep to the book or should I have Hermione with Draco? Which is what I want but my friend Aya-chan, who is actually Lena, threatened me about that particular pairing.

I'd love to have some constructive criticism; so please Review. ;) Thanks lots to the people who put my story on story alert, you guys inspired me to actually finish this.

~Love-Truth-Self~ This has been Amira Otinashi with the Fanfiction radio station, over and out.


	3. Train Rides and Awkward Combinations

Chapter Two: Train rides and Awkward Combinations

~~~~~~~True-Self~~~~~~~~

Ari and Lena glanced at each other then back to the young men who were still standing motionless in the compartment's doorway. It was silent for a moment as the girls both mentally acknowledged that their previous conversation had just been brought to a halt faster than Professor Snape confronted with a cauldron of flowery smelling shampoo. Finally Lena, showing her Gryffindor bravery was still present spoke up.

"Well, are you boys just going to stand ominously there in the doorway, or are you going to get your sexy ginger selves in here?" This eloquent question was met with laughter from the two red heads, and an annoyed glance from Arianna.

The two boys quickly moved from their previous spots in the doorway to sit next to the one of the girls each as Lena grinned wolfishly and chuckled sheepishly as her eyes flitted to meet Arianna's, a slightly apologetic look in her eyes. Ari gave a half-hearted look to her friend as she shifted farther from the twin who had sat next to her. She would forgive her friend for her flirting, as she suspected it would cause the girl physical harm if she were to stop flirting for more than an hour.

"I'm Lena Garner and she is Arianna Levion," Lena gestured between herself and Ari in turn, "Mind telling us who you would happen to be? Not that we couldn't guess, but I highly doubt we would guess correctly."

"I'm the amazing George, and that would be my unfortunately less attractive twin brother, Fred Weasley. If I'm right, and I usually am, you won't ever be able to tell the difference between us." The twin closest to Ari, now identified as George, gestured back and forth between his brother and himself.

Fred chuckled and nodded vigorously, obviously agreeing with his other half. Lena chuckled as she caught Arianna's eye and they smirked knowingly. Ari was chuckling internally. She wasn't entirely sure about Lena, but she would definitely be able to tell the two apart, identical twins or no.

This was a time when she was grateful for her vampiric abilities. She could tell the difference between the boys based on their scents alone. George smelled like the smoke from a fire, while Fred smelled like rain. The smells mixed surprisingly well together despite the obvious differences. Ari knew the smell would not be noticeable to a human unless they were less than an arms length away.

To Arianna her heightened sense of smell could be either a gift or a curse, depending upon the situation. If she was working on a potion with highly explosive components, then the slightest change in smell could alert her in time to duck because something had gone wrong, which had happened countless times before, or if she was in a large potions class and someone, namely Neville Longbottom, accidentally created a foul smelling gas cloud, which had happened more times than she liked to remember, she would have to remove herself from the vicinity immediately or face the chance of fainting.

Ari was brought out of her musings by Lena's laughter, and she realized that she must have zoned out completely. It was an unfortunate habit of hers, to get lost in her own thoughts and mind. She really should start to pay attention again, at least somewhat. While she was in la la land, the train had pulled out of the station and they were now steaming through the green countryside.

Lena was smiling and nodding while Fred and George were telling her a joke about…were they honestly talking about pygmy puff mating practices? Sometimes Arianna questioned why she was even friends with this lunatic. Lena caught her friend's eyes looking towards her, and grinned as she began to go off on some crazy story of hers, probably one of the ones about their multiple mishaps in 3rd year when they repeatedly snuck into the Forbidden Forrest at dawn, usually after a full moon, and ran into a certain werewolf professor. That had been one of their more…erm…unusual years.

Arianna chuckled inwardly as she glanced around only to notice that the two boys were staring at her best friend, seemingly spellbound, and Ari started to pay attention to exactly what the words coming out Lena's mouth were. It was one of those stories, if she wasn't mistaken, the first one.

"Well their we were, two young, innocent, impressionable, children staring down our buck naked professor. I think we were all so red in the face we glowed for a week, but we had a good reason for it. You could see everything, and I do mean **everything**. Ari-dear almost fainted on the spot poor thing. I-," Lena was cut off as uproarious laughter came from Arianna's direction. The girl in question heard two distinct cracks as the twins heads whipped around in her direction.

Upon realizing that all eyes in the compartment were focus solely on her, she made an odd noise, and her face darkened as she quickly shoved herself in the corner of the compartment, rather like a frightened animal. The sound could have been a cross between a seal yelping and a nickering hippogriff, and her face was now the same color as the love child between a magically enhanced strawberry and a lobster. That is if a plant and a lobster could reproduce together.

Her eyes flickered between them all as silence took over the compartment. Ari was silently berating herself for allowing the laugh to get out, and drawing attention to herself, when her advanced hearing picked up a sound. Footsteps were drawing closer and closer to the compartment. The footsteps were very familiar to her.

Just as this though had passed through her mind, the compartment door flew open with a crash. Standing in the doorway, and effectively taking the attention away from Arianna, was the only female Weasley still in Hogwarts. Ginny's eyes quickly took in the compartment, and her eyes flashed between her brothers, Lena, and a terrified looking Ari. She gave Ari an understanding look, before her eyes came to a rest on her elder siblings.

"Thank goodness I found you boys! Some Slytherin 7th years are bullying the Creevy brothers, and there are two many of them for me to handle." Her brothers were moving almost before she finished the sentence, and she quickly moved aside to let them pass by. They started back the way that Ginny had come from as their sister quickly stepped into the compartment they had just vacated.

"Luna and Neville are looking for you two, I'll tell them you're in this compartment. My brothers don't mean any harm, so don't let them get to you too bad Arianna. I will be back as soon as I get rid of my brothers." She smiled at the two before rushing after the twins.

Lena sighed as she looked over at Ari, who was still in her position in the corner. She went to work at calming the girl down, cursing the man who gave her this fear in the first place in the process.

~~~~~~~True-Self~~~~~~~~

Not long after Lena had managed to get calm the young half vampire, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood knocked on the compartment door before entering. The two hugged their friends in greeting, and Ari felt triumphant, as she had not flinched in the slightest when Neville had wrapped his arms around her loosely.

Neville was one of the few males that she was so used to she could be completely at ease around. Admittedly, it had taken a year of trying, but they were much closer for it. Neville held the position of being her best male friend and he had called her his little sister more than once. He, Luna, and Ginny were three of the only students at the school to know of her androphobia, which was the fear of men.

Luna sat happily next to her for the rest of the train ride as they all shared the stories of their various summers. The rest of the ride to Hogwarts was taken up by happy chatter that was only interrupted when Ginny joined them briefly before going to sit with her boyfriend.

Then, before they knew it the train was pulling into Hogsmeade. As they had put on their robes earlier on in the ride, they were able to get out of the train and into a carriage rather quickly. Only stopping to let Ari, Luna, and Neville pet the thestrals, and for Lena to say hello to her younger sister, Trinity, whom everyone just called Turtle. Turtle was going to be sorted that year, and Ari and Lena had a bet running on whether she would be Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Lena said Ravenclaw, Ari said Gryffindor.

Before anyone really knew it, the little group of friends was seated at their respective tables, Lena and Neville each on one side of Arianna. It was just like all the other years they had been together. Exactly alike, except for two things. The Weasley twins had taken it upon themselves to sit down in front of them. Fred was directly in front of Lena, and George in front of Arianna.

~~~~~~~True-Self~~~~~~~~

I'm so so so sorry that it took so long for me to update this, and I know that no excuses will make it better…but I still have one!

The demonic affliction of writer's block fell upon me.

I need to thank **Temperance Isaack** for getting rid of it, and motivating me again. Thanks Braith! See I updated! No need to rip my head off!

I would also like to thank all the others who commented!

**Inotia**, **She-Herself-And- I**, and **Dave Strider**,thank you all for reviewing! Every time I saw a review, I almost cried with happiness!

I'd also like to thank all those who have favorited or alerted this story!

Oh I forgot it at the beginning of the story so here is my disclamer!

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own. I only own Arianna, Lena, and any other OCs of mine.

Thanks for reading R&R! Please review!

~Love-Truth-Self~


	4. Guardians of All Types

I'm so sorry this took so long to update...writer's block was kicking my booty. Anyway! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! And thanks to Temperance Isaack for betaing for me! You rock Sarah! Well, here ya go.

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own.

~~~~~~~True-Self~~~~~~~~

Ari stared at the two gingers before them in astonishment. It was very rare for anyone to seek her out. Lena, she could understand, but not her. She quickly swore at herself in her mind for having drawn their attention on the train, even as she grabbed Lena's sleeve for reassurance underneath the table. A quick glance to either side made it clear to her that her friends were just as confused as she was. Well, this wasn't good. At least it didn't seem to be to her anyway.

"Well hello again." Lena, always with something to say, destroyed the silence. "I knew you couldn't stay away from me. They never can." Really, could that girl ever stop flirting? Judging from the way Arianna and Neville were giving each other identical looks of exasperation, no. No she could not.

Apparently, their somewhat unwelcome company had decided the same. Fred grinned mischievously over at the girl and promptly began to flirt back.

"However did you know? It was excruciating without you. I simply couldn't bare our separation any longer! Never leave me again, and spare me from the ghastly suffering!" Lena let out a snort of laughter, and Ari was grateful for the distraction. It allowed her a chance to look up, hopefully unobserved.

Sadly, the second after she had she quickly dubbed this movement most unwise on her part, as she had looked up directly into the normally mischievous blue eyes of George Weasley, who was looking at her in an oddly serious, for him at least, manner. Her eyes widened in surprise, and a flush quickly made its way onto her cheeks as she looked away. She didn't do all that well with direct eye contact. It made her feel too confrontational. Unfortunately, George seemed to thrive on that confrontation, as he quickly took advantage of the way he had her attention.

"Arianna? Could you tell me-" He was quickly cut off when an overanxious toad jumped directly onto his plate. Lena and Fred just so happened to be looking over at that moment, and burst into uproarious laughter. Arianna gave a sigh of relief, thankful for the timely intervention. Neville, on the other hand, didn't seem to be quite so happy with the occurrence.

"TREVOR! I have been looking for you all over. You really must stop wandering off. I'm sorry George; you must smell good to him or something." Neville hurriedly went about trying to collect his excitable pet. Trevor did not seem to wish to return to his master, as he quickly jumped off of the plate and into Fred's lap. While Lena laughed hysterically at the scene before her, Fred and Neville quickly caught the runaway amphibian.

This had thankfully distracted George from his questioning, but that wasn't all it had distracted them from. Arianna quickly became aware of the way the low murmuring of the great hall had turned to almost complete silence. A few groups still whispered quietly between themselves, but the topic was now completely different.

"What on earth does he think he's doing coming over here?! Now of all times?" Lavender Brown's annoying voice was just one of many voicing these questions, and all of them reverberated on Ari's sensitive ears. Not that she needed her ears to tell her who was being spoken of. The scent of a fresh breeze and pine was familiar enough to the young half-breed that she would be able to pick him out in a large crowd from the 40 meters away. She had gotten very accustomed to it over the summer.

Therefore, it was no large surprise to her when she saw surprise and hostility reflected on the twin faces before her as they glared at the person behind her. The look was likely identical to the one of every Gryffindor who was looking in their direction at the moment. That actually turned out to be almost all of them, as Neville, Lena, and herself were the only ones not looking. Slowly, all three shared a look as they turned in their seats.

"Miss Levion, it is good to see you again. I trust you are well?" The calm, apathetic voice of Draco Malfoy spoke in a way almost none had heard previously. He was quiet, but still articulate, and it appeared that he was talking to an injured animal from the soothing tone that he had taken it upon himself to use.

"I am fine, Mr. Malfoy. You and your family are well, I hope?" Ari was immensely glad that her voice hadn't shaken, though it was quiet. Luckily for her no one would consider this out of the ordinary, despite the completely unordinary sequence of events.

"We are all faring well, and speaking of family, Mother sends her regards for both you and your grandmother as well. She expressed her desire for the both of you to visit again during the Yule time holidays." A faint smirk worked itself onto his face at the sound of the gasps that had echoed around the room at that last statement and Ari found herself cursing him in her mind for inane ability to make every statement seem scandalous.

"That will be entirely up to Grandmother. Though I see no reason she would have to object." Ari really was beginning to hate this formal speech pattern they were using, but as things were, it really was the only 'proper' way for them to converse in public. At least, that's what Narcissia had told her. Dang pureblood traditions.

"Mother will be most pleased to hear that." Draco smirked at the occupants of the table around her, and she suddenly had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"In that case, I will bid you adieu for now, Miss Levion, and leave you to your meal." Smirk still in place, he caught her hand, gave her a bow, and pressed a kiss to the back of it before turning abruptly on his heal and sauntering back to his table.

Ari gave a body heaving sigh as she turned back around in her seat, eyes firmly closed, waiting for the sudden uproar to die down. Internally she was cursing Malfoy to the darkest depths of hell, or at the very least somewhere very far away. She knew if she opened her eyes it would be to the entire table staring at her, so her eyes were kept shut as her face slowly colored.

Unknown to her, both Weasley twins had taken notice of the change in her coloring, and it was subsequently brought to their attention that she had not stuttered or blushed at all during her conversation with Malfoy, while when they had simply looked at her she had colored so quickly they had been privately worried for her heart, as it had to be strained at pumping that much blood to her face. Still unknown to her, glances had been exchanged, and an agreement made in under a minute. They wanted to know why, and so they would find out.

Arianna was brought back to awareness by a light tugging on her sleeve. Luckily this coincided with the arrival of the first years, so Ari quickly glanced over at Neville. He gave her a reassuring grin, and quickly promised that they, being her closest friends, understood her predicament, and would stand beside her regardless. With grins from Lena and Luna, from across the room cementing this fact, Ari was free to stare down at her plate for the rest of the meal, which she did gladly, to avoid the stares of two gingers that she could feel boring into her.

Ari took this time to remember the cause of her current arrangement with the Malfoy family. During the battle of Hogwarts, she had been involved with the fighting, a bit more than anyone really knew. She had kind of, sort of, maybe if you asked her with veritaserum in her system, lost her wand in the first half. After that when she was attacked she had ummm…Unleashed her vampiric tendencies on them. Meaning she had just started using her speed, strength, and…well, she may or may not have ripped a few throats open. Only death eaters though, and one of her abilities, the precognitive recall, had allowed her to see what they would have done if she hadn't got to them. One of them would have killed Fred, another the Creevy brothers, and countless others.

She had hated what she had done after, but was glad no one knew it was her. Most people had suspected that one of Voldemort's vampire allies had just gone crazy with bloodlust. Unfortunately, someone had seen her. That someone had been Draco. He had seen her kill the vampire who had been trying to kill him, and upon telling his family, they had declared that they owed her a life debt. Since she had saved the only heir to their family line, the Malfoys would forever be in her debt. It had really shocked her to realize that magical pureblood families had a procedure in place for this situation. Apparently, her actions had made her an honorary Malfoy for her "guardian angel actions". She had thought it was nonsense, but apparently, since she had saved his life without using magic, it made the debt much stronger, and it was actually a magically binding contract, and would likely be on record, not only at the Ministry, but also at Gringots.

At least, that's what they had sworn once they invited her to their home. Surprisingly enough they had invited her grandmother too, which was a shock as Grams was a muggle, and that family was notoriously anti-muggle, apparently the 'Guardians Contract' was more extensive than she had originally assumed. Eventually, Draco had clued in to the way she acted not being because she was in a house of ex-death eaters, and upon having her circumstances explained to him by Grams, after much begging on his part, he had, in full view of her and his family, made a magical oath to never hurt her intentionally, and to protect her any time he could. This oath had essentially declared him her unofficial guardian, and it had gone a long way to helping her gain confidence around him, though that could also be because he always spoke and acted very carefully around her, and now he was on the same level for her as Neville was. She was pretty much able to trust him unconditionally, like the older brother she had never had. He had actually been the one to give her her first flying lesson. It had almost given Grams a heart attack, metaphorically, and she requested a brandy upon recovering from her shock.

That said her friends had known about it since she had, and had decided that if Ari could trust him, Ari who only trusted four people unconditionally, so could they. Draco had essentially decided the same for them, as he had put it, "They are your family, and you trust my family, so I trust yours."

Arianna was happy to find that during her musing dinner had passed rather uneventfully, with a surprisingly large number of students being sorted into Gryffindor, and a record low amount going to Slytherin, which she supposed was a result of the war. She was ecstatic with her ability to sneak past the both of Weasley twins in the crowd as they tried to intercept her after the meal was completed. With a self-satisfied grin, she had managed to rush up to her dorm and sped some time reacquainting herself with her dorm mates. Said dorm mates, did, of course question her about her little 'encounter' in the Great Hall, but were surprisingly willing to let it go once she cleared up some of the more prominent rumors. Specifically, no, she was not under the Imperious, no she was not betrothed to him through some old forgotten pureblood agreement, and no, they were not 'pulling a Romeo and Juliet and running off to elope'. That last one had caused her to sputter in laughter for three whole minutes before Lena felt it necessary to intervene and flatten that theory.

Ari gave a grin as she drifted off to sleep, feeling at home once again and ready for her final year at Hogwarts. She almost couldn't wait to see what this year would have in store, and if things would slow down now with the war over and Voldeshorts unable to cause any more trouble.

A small tug in her navel reminded her of her only cause for concern. Even she didn't bother her that much right now…though, it did remind her that she would have to get more supplies for her little problem. Her indulgence during the battle meant she would need more of her blood substitute potion, and in more frequent doses. Unfortunately, the only man who could actually make the potion, Severus Snape, had died in the battle. While she had helped him brew it many times before, she didn't actually know how to brew it in its entirety, as there were some aspects of it that would need to be done by a person with a Mastery in potions. He had been going to teach her how this year, but now that was impossible. She had no earthly idea of what she would do, and she really didn't want to go the route of other vampires, who mostly just found human familiars to feed from, or got bags of donor blood…illegally.


End file.
